Duke  University   Libraries 

A  tract  for  the 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #403 


SLAVERY  &  ABOLITIONISM 


B  E  I  li  G    THE 


SUBSTANCE  OF' A  SEEMON, 
Preached  in  the  Church  otSt.  Aa«;fisline5  Florida, 

ON    THE    4tii   BAY   OF   JANTJABT,    1831, 

By  the  Right  Re?.  A.  VEROT^  D.  D., 

VICAR  APOBTOLIC  OP  FLORIDA  AND  NOW  RJSHOP  d:^  SAVANNAH. 


NEW     EDITION 


NEW    ORLEANS  : 

PRINTED  AT  THE  "CATHOLJC  PROPAGATOR"  OFFICE, 
12^5  Charlres  street 

1861. 


I 


TO  THE  PUBLIC. 


Although  this  Sermon  be  of  a  remote  date,  having  been  preached  on  the  4th  of 
January  last,  before  the  Secession,  war  consumpiated,  still  it  is  so  well  adapted  to 
our  Institutions,  that  we  though  we  would  render  service  to  the  community  at  large, 
by  reprinting  it  and  spread'uf-'  ii;  all  over  the  country. 

Tbo' written  in.  a  plain  and  :i?)TetendiQg  style,  it  is  quite  .  forcible,  and  presents 
the  most  instructive  and  most  p  1  .ical  tract  we  ever  read,  on  the  rights  and  duti«iB 
of  Slaveholders. 

New  Orleans,  December  ^h  1861, 

THE  EDITOR. 


^aj 


SERMON. 


Justice  Exalteth  A  Nation  :    But  Sin  Maketh  Nations  Miserable. 

(Prov.  xiv.  34.)       . 

•Beloved  Brethren  : 

This  is  a  great,  a  most  important  truth,  involving  the  most  momentous, 
interests,  which  I  deem  expedient  and  necessarv,  ou  this  melancholy  occa- 
sion, to  present  to  your  earnest  consideration.  ^'  Justice exalteth  a  nation: 
but  ?in  maketh  nations  miserable.  *'  We  learn  tliis  important  lesson  from 
the  Wise  Man  ^ho  has  written  the  Book  of  Proverbs  ;  but  it  is  not  the 
result  of  his  individual  and  personal  wisdom  which  I  present  to  you :  it  is 
the'unerririg  dictate  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  in.^pired  and  directed  the  sa- 
cred penman  to  record,  in  that  portion  of  Scripture,  a  maxim  wiiich  is  an 
imperishable  truth,  because  it  is  the  word  of  Him  whois  truth  itself, — who 
can  neither  deceive  nor  be  deceived  ;  and  indcrcd,  heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away,  but  His  words  shall  not  pass  away.  But,  independently  of  the 
unexceptionable  authority  of  Him  who  has  promulgated  this  sublime  maxim 
of  true  and  genuine  statesmanship,  and  of  sacred  and  divine  politics^  we 
have  history  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  sentence  of  the  Wise  Man 
^ — ''  Justice  exalteth  a  nation  :  but  sin  maketh  nations  miserable.  "  The 
'rise  and  fall  of  nations,  consigned  in  the  pages  of  history,'  is  but  a  continual 
application  and  confirmation  of  this  principle  of  unerring  truth.  The 
great  Doctor  of  the  Church — the  patron  of  this  city  and  congregation — 
St.  Augustine,  in  his  ^admirable  work.  '•  Of  the  City  of  God,  "  undertook 
to  show  the  true  reason  of  the  unexampled  prosperity  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
That  Empire  was  the  most  extensive  and  the  most  prosperous  that  ever 
e:jdsted  :  it  extended  itself  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  known  universe* 
Even  the  wild  nations  that  could  not  be  readied  by  its  authority,  respected 
and  dreaded  the  very  name  of  the  Romans.  That  illustrious  Doctor  doea 
not  hesitate  to  say,  that  this  temporal  prosperity  of  the  Empire  was  the 
reward  of  the  moral  virtues  which  illustrated  the  Roman  nation  in  the  first 
centuries  of  her  existence,  and  which  were  never  mor3  coaspicuous  thai^in 
the  men  whom  she  placed  at  the  head  of  her  armies,  and  to  whom  sliegave 
the  direction  of  her  civil  and  political  affairs.  They  have  left  us  admirable 
examples  of  justice,  integrity,  and  fortitude,  on  most  trying  occasions.  Suck 
was  their  love  of  justice,  that  one  of  their  enemies,  who  had  even  fought 
against  them  with  success  dearly  bought,  knowing  that  gold,  which  m  so 
powerful  on  men.  coul^i  have  no  effect  on  the  chief  officer  of  Rome  to  bribe 
him  and  corrupt  him,  remarked  that  it  would  be  easier  to  turn  the  3un  from 


i. 


his  course,  than  the  Roman  Consul  from  the  path  of  justice.  As  long  asibie 
love  of  jiL^^tice  lasted,  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  events  gave  success  to  their 
arms,  and  extended  their  conquests  far  and  wide,  until  the  whole  earth  was 
tmder  their  sway.  But,  at  a  later  period,  injustice,  iniquity,  ambitioi, 
covetousness,  and  bribery  crept  into.the  Empire,  and  were  found  disgradng 
eren  the  leaders  of  the  nation.  It  was  then  that  Almighty  God  permitted 
that  hordes  of  Barbarians  should  invade  that  Empire,  now  fallen  from  its 
pristine  justice  and  integrity  ;  and  those  Barbarians  devastated  and  over- 
turned the  colossal  Empire,  and  swept  its  authority,  its  grandeur,  and  its 
yery  name  from  the  earth. 

Such  is  then  the  plan  of  Divine  Providence  in  the  goverment  of  this 
world.  If  iniquity,  injustice,  rapine,  and  bloodshed  seem  sometimes  to  meet 
with  success,  it  is  only  temporary  and  ephemeral,  similar  to  the  devastation 
produced  by  a  swollen  torrent,  but  such  causes  cannot  establish,  settle,  and 
*  place  on  a  permanent  basis,  any  civil  and  political  institution  :  any  govern- 
ment that  rests  upon  injustice,  must  necessarily  crumble  with  its  tottering 
foundation.  ''  Justice  exalteth  a  imtion  :  but  sin  maketh  nations  miser- 
able.'' Our  beloved  country  is  now  undoubtedly  under  the  operation  of 
that  stern  and  inflexible  rule  of  justice,  at  the  hands  of  the  Author  of  justice. 
We  have  hitherto  been  a  nation  prosperous  beyond  even  the  most  exagge- 
rated conceptions  of  a  wild  imagination  ;  productions  of  every  kind  lav- 
ished by  our  soil  ;  an  abundance,  not  to  say  an  overflowing,  of  the  cir- 
culating medium  ;  extensive  factories,  an  active  commerce,  and  the  tich 
Jind  exuberant  fruits  of  industry  by  sea  and  by  land,  have  made  the 
United  States  a  paragon  of  riches,  —  a  sort  of  elysian  fields,  in  which 
•'the  overflowing  population  of  Europe  came  to  enjoy  abundance,  riches, 
peace,  and  freedom.  The  aspect  is  suddenly  changed  ;  the  political 
horizon  has  become  gloomy  ;  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer  is 
kept  over  the  land,  to  avert  impending  evils;  discord  and  disunion  tre 
rapidly  spreading  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  ;  the  horrors 
of  war,  and  of  the  worst  kind— of  civil  war — are  staring  us  in  the  face, 
and  the  prosperity,  hitherto  unparalleled,  of  the  country,  has  given  way 
to  mutual  distrust,  uneasiness,  suspension  of  commerce,  stagnation  of  in- 
dustry, suffering,  and  the  anticipation  of  evils  yet  worse  to  come.  The 
cause  must  no  doubt  be,  that  we  have. forgotten  justice,  and  that  sin  has 
/  ,crept  frightfully  among  us  to  make  us  miserable  ;  for  Almighty  ,God 
■'hates  in  us  only  sin,  and  the  disorderly  bend  of  our  wills,  by  which  we 
transgress  His  law.  • 

Slavery  is  the  origin  of  the  present  disturbances,  and  is  the  fatal  sand 
bank  upon  which  the  Ship  of  State  h^s  already  made  a  total  or  partial 
shipwreck.  '  Injustice  has  then  been  committed  on  this  point,  and  I  deem 
the  present  occasion  to  be  a  very  favorable  one,  to  place  before  your 
eyes  some  truths  which  are  of  great  importance  to  the  nation  at.  large, — 
^  to  the  North,  and  to  the  South, — to  the  people  collectively,  and  to  in- 
dividuals,—to  masters,  and  to  servant!;.  .  I  wish  to  show,  on  the  one 
aide,  how  uj^uet,  iniqu-itous,  UQScriptui'al,  and  unreasonnable  is  the  aeser- 


^■db 


tion  of  Abolitionists,  who  brand  Slavery  as  a  moral  evil;  and  \%  crime 
against  God,  religion,  humanity,  and  society  ;  whereas,  it  is  found  to  have 
received  the  sanction  of  God,  of  the  Church,  and  of  Society  at  all  fimes, 
a&d  in  all  governments.  On  the  other  side,  I  wish  to  show  the  Conditions 
under  which  servitude  is  legitimate,  lawful,  approved  by  all  laws,  and 
consistent  with  practical  religion  and  true  holiness  of  life  in  masters  who 
fiilfil  those  conditions. 

Servitude  is  the  state  of  a  person  dependent  on  a  master,  so  as  to  be 
obliged  to  work  all  his  life  for  that  master,  with   the  privilege,   in  the 
latter,  to  transfer  that  right  to  another   person   by   sale.      Divines   and 
civilians  who  examine  the  foundations  of  social  life,  inquire  what  things 
can  come  under  the  domain  or  ownership  of  men,  and  they  agree  that  we 
kave   not  a  perfect  domain  or  property  over  our  own  life  and  limbs,  but 
only  the  vsufruct  of  them, — that  is.  a  life-interest  in  them  :  and  hence  a 
master,  not  being  the  true  owner  of  his  own   life  and  limbs,   cannot  be 
the  owner  or  proprietor  of  the  life  and  limbs  of  a  slave  ;  this  high  domain 
belongs  exclusively  to  our  Maker  :  a  master  can   claim   no  other  right 
than  the  usvfrnct  of  his  slave, — that  is,  a  right  on  his  labor  and  industry, 
and  the  labor  and  industry  of  his  children.     This  being  premised,  we  can 
show,  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one  who  is  not  determined  to  shut  his 
eyes  against  the  truth,  that  the  state  of  servitude  \^  reprobated   neither 
fey  natural,  law,  nor  by  the  Divine  positive  law,  nor  by  the  ecclesiastical 
law,  Bor  by  the  civil  laws.    Those  four  kinds  of  laws  are  the  sources  of 
all  justice,  of  all  right,  and  from  them  emanate  all  the  directions  and 
prescriptions  which  govern  the  actions  of  men.    Natural  or  moral  law 
id  that  which  arises  from  the  nature  or  essence  of  moral  and  reasonable 
lieings,  and  is  engraved  in  our  hearts  by  our  Maker,  the  Author  of  Na- 
ture.    Such  are  the  Commandments  Thm  shalt  not  kilf, —  Thou  shdt  not 
96faiy  &c.    Divine  positive  law  is  that  command  of  God   which   requires 
something  in  addition  to  natural  law.     Such  was  the  circumcision  pre- 
acribed  to  the  Jews,  or  baptism  prescribed  now   to  Christians.     Eccle- 
siastical law  comes  from  the  Church,  which   God  has  established,  with 
an  express  command  to  us  to  hear  her  : — "  He  that  heareth  you,  hearotii 
me  :  he  tkat  deepiseth  you,  despiseth  me.— Luke  x.  16."  Civil  lawcomeg 
from  the  governments  under  which  we  live,  and  which  it  is  our  duty   to 
obey  ; — '*  Let  every  soul  be  subject   to  higher  powers." — Rom.  xm.  1. 
Now  Slavery  is  condemned  by  none  of  these  laws,  as  it  is  easy  to  show. 

Aa  to  natural  law  : — it  must  be  said,  indeed,  that  natural  law  does  not 
eetablish  or  institute  Slavery  :  no  one  is,  by  nature,  the  sla>e  of  another  ; 
but  natural  law  approves  of  reasons  and  causes  by  which  a  man  may  bf- 
oome  the  slave  of  another  man.  The  case  stands  here  precisely  as  with 
regard  t«  the  division  of  property.  No  land  belongs  to  anybody  by  the 
right  of  nature,  but  legitimate  titles  constitute  it  the  property  of  individ- 
uals. Any  one.  ever  so  little  conversant  with  history,  finds  Slavery. eetab- 
liabed  among  all  nations  of  antiquity,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  is 
coeval  with  the  division  of  property.    Writers  on  this  branch  of  science 


assign  the  various  titles  which  legitimate  a  state  of  Slavery,  and  which,  no 
4oii-bt,  must  have  been  originally  the  source  and  beginning  of  its  intro>- 
duction  among  men.  The  first  title  they  assign,  is  the  sale  that  a  m^ 
makes  of  himself  to  a  master.  A  man  may  sell  his  labor,  and  work  fot 
a  day,  a  week,  a  month  or  a  year  :  why  may  he  not  sell  it  for  all  his  life? 
If  it  be  said  that  a  sale  requires  a  consideration,  and  an  equivalent  h%^ 
tween  the  contracting  parties,  this  is  very  true.  •  But  the  master  gives 
an  equivalent,  namely — food  and  clothing  to  the  slave,  with  the  assu^ 
ranee  and  security  to  him  to  fmd  them  at  all  times, '  and  especially  the 
promise  of  support,  and  maintenance  in  sickness  and  in  old  age,  when  He 
will  be  unable  to  work.  The  equivalent  given  by  the  master  may  he  A 
sufficient  inducement  for  some  individuals  to  offer  their  work  and  liberty 
lor  ever.  The  slave  receives  indeed  an  equivalent,  in  this  certainty  of 
being  always  provided  for — a  certainty  wliich  many  distressed  and  star^r^ 
ing  families  in  Europe,  and  in  the  large  cities  of  Arcerca,  woiild.in-' 
deed  appreciate  highly*  as  they  know  what  a  source  of  ioterminable 
care,  anxiety,  and  solicitude  this  matter  is  for  them,  li  is  truly  remark- 
able, how  gay,  cheerful,  and  sprightly  are  the  slaves  of  the  South.  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  they  seem  to  be  better  contented  than  their 
masters ;  assuredly  more  so  than  the  sullen  and  gloomy  population' 
found  in  the  work  shops  and  factories  of  large  .cities.  The  master  there- 
lore  gives  an  equivalent. .  This  is. so  true,  that,  for  me  personally,'! 
Tfould  not  accept  persons  who  wonld  offer .  their  services  for  life,-  on  con-- 
ditiqn  of  maintaining  them  for  ever,  precisely  on  account  of  the  danger 
«f  having  services  that  nnight  prove  unacceptable,  and.  on  account  of 
•th^  heavy  charge  such  persons  occasion  in  sickness  and  old  age.  I 
know  of  masters  who  were  poor  when  ,they  had-,  slaves,  •  and  had  be- 
come rich  by  setting  them  free  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  is-  one  of  the^ 
reasons  for  which  Slavery  has  become  gradually  extinct  in  Europe. 

Another  title  of  servitude  mentioned  by  .canonists  and  jurists,  is  cap-' 
ture  in  a  just  war,  as  history  tells  us  how  the  captives  in  war  used  to  be 
sold  a?  slaves.^    The  conqueror  could  put  them  to  death  ;■  it  is  assuredly^ 
a  better  lot  for  them   that   they  be  sold  as  slaves.  •  Christianity  has 
intr,oduced   a^more  humane  legislation  in.  reference /to-.. prisoners-  of'  war,' 
foV  which   we  must  thank  our  Redeemer. ;  but  nature  alone   and  strict 
justice  declare   that,  in  a  just,  war,  the  vanquished  forfeits  his  life  to   the' 
victor,  who  does  him  kindness  by  granting  life  at  the  expense' of  liberty. 
Anpther  title   I  mast  mention,  is  condemnation   to  Slavery  for  crimes 
committed,  or  even  for  non-payment  of  debts.     This  is  likewise  a  point 
oh.  which  Christianity  has  introduced  .  milder  forms; -but   we  must  not 
forget  that  they  are  a  boon,  and  npt  a  strict  right :  he  who  is  condemned 
to  bard  labor  in  a  .penitentiary,  would  find  his  lot  much  improved  in  the 
condition  of  a  slave.     Again,  if  a  man  ;  cannot  pay  his  debts,  he  may  be 
compelled,  in  strict  justice.,  to  work. in  order  to  pay   them,  and  this,  no 
doubt,  must  have  been  a  frequent  title  of  servitude.     Our  Lord  men-' 
tions  it  in  one  of  His  parables,   without  a  .word  to   censure  what  wa«' 


then  a  o:enoral  practice.  '"One  was  br  bngbt  who  owed  his  lofd  tfen 
thousand  talent?,  and,  as  he  had  not  wherewith,  to' pay  it,  his  lord  commaii- 
ded  that  he  should  be  sold, 'and  his  wife  and  children,  and  all  .that  he  had, 
and  payment  to  be  made.  —  ^latt.  :rfin.  25.  A  spirit  of  philantropiy 
(whether  judicious  or  not  I  do  not  examine)  has  induced  modern  legis- 
lators to  suppress  imprisonment  much  more  Slavery,  for  debt,  and  dis-' 
honest  debtors  are  very  partial  to  such  a  legislation  \  bat  ^the  ancients  en-  ' 
tertained  diiterent  idea?  of  stern  and  strict  justice,  for  whicli  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  blame  them.  '     '         ..    , 

Nativity,  or  birth  from  a  mother  in  a  State  of  Slavery,  is  also  admitted 
by  writers  to  be  a  just  cause  of  servitude  ;.  par^u^  si:qiiii\:.r  venirem  is  an  ' 
axiominlaw.     A  child  lollCws  the  "  conditioii   and   state  of  his  parents, 
and  the  child  must  perish,  unless  it  be  maintained  and  supported  by  the 
master;  if  the  child  could  speak,  he  would  prefer  b3':ng  a  slave  to  being 
exposed .  to  the  Necessity   of  dying  for  want   of  sustenance,  and  hence 
this  title  has  been  readily  admitted  wherever  Slavery  h.as  at  all. existed, 
and  the  Scripture,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  confirms  it/   Pinally,  we  mention 
long  possession  in  good  faith,  with  an  apMrent  title,  tr.  he   a  legitimate, 
cause   for  holding  slave^'.     This  title   was   called   prescription  by   the 
Latins,  and  has  re^tained  that  name  in  almost  all  modern  European  Ian- , 
guages.     This  is  a  title  introduced  by  the  general  consent  of  nations,  for  ' 
the  security  of  property.    I'f  we  have  possessed   something  for  a  long 
time  in  good'faith,  thinking  it  is  burfe,  it  is  really   oars,   although  there 
might  arisCj.  after  a  "long  lapse  of  years;  some  cotitestations  about  the  val- 
idity of  the  original  title.     We  see,  therefore,  that  there  are  many  ways. 
in  which  Slavery,  inay  lawfully  exist,  and  that  such  a  state  is  not  ?'epro- 
batedbj  reason,  or  by  the 'natural  and  innate  notions'"  of  justice,   when^ 
some  o'f.tnose'  titles  e5;ist'.     Civil  Jaws  may  condemn  some  of  these  titleg 
in.the.  present  refined  state  of  society  :  in  tliat  case,  such   titles   will  be 
invalid,  not  because  they  ai:e  adverse  to   the  natural   law,  but  .  because 
they  are  made  void  by  the  law  of  the  land.   *        .  _ 

Lef. us 'now.  examine  whether  .tiie  Divine  positive  law  condemn  Slavery.. 
If*  Slavery  by  iminoral  in. itself/*  no  DiyiAe  law  .  can  commend  it  ^pr^ 
ap^ove  gf  "it,' ■bogause.Go.d"  cannot'  commend  or  'aLitnoriao  something 
immoral  ;  if  it  bc.-not,  immoral  in  itself,  still  God  coiil'd  To:  bid.it,  as  He 
foi;bade,'  in  old  tunes',.'  the  eating  of  blog^d  and.  of  other-  thin^-s. '  In  this 
respect,  however,  we  iind  t iiat  God,  in  the  Old  Testament,  ui-di-'r  the  law 
of  nature,  and  under  thcJaw  of!  Moses,  not'ouJy  did  not,prohlbl:  Slavery, 
biit.  saiictionf^d  it,  regulated  it,  and  spei^ified  the  riglits  of  masters,  and 
the'duties  of  slaves." 'K  would  certainly  be  .tcdio^js' to  adduce  all  the' 
proofs  ortny*a.ssor.ti,on^whic]i  could  be  extracted  from  th.e  Old  Testament; 
—.a. few  of  the  most.' striking  ^ill  be  amply  suffiuient.  Abraham 
assuredly  was  a"  good  man^;  now  Abraliani  was  a  slaveholder,  and  a  very 
lai'ge  one  ifideed.  When.h'is  nephew,  Lo.^tJ'was  taken  prisoner  (Gen.  :^. 
I4J  ';  he  numbered  of  the  servants  l3orn  in  his  house  three  hundred  arid 
eightceh  well  appointed,  "  pnrsvied  and  defeated  the  invaders,  and  de- 


8 

fliyered  Lot  and  all  the  people.  The  Scripture  here  approves  of  the  title 
of  nativity,  by  mentioning  that  these  slaves  were  born  in  his  house.  In 
the  same  page  of  Genesis,  chap,  xvi,  we  find  a  more  striking,  and  pointed 
approbation  of  Slavery.  For  reasons  stated  in  that  chapter,  Sara,  the 
wife  of  Abram,  was  obliged  to  treat  With  severity  her  handmaid'—^  or 
female  servant  —  Agar  ;  the  latter  ran  away,  and  "  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
"having  found  her  by  a  fountain  of  water  in  the  wilderness,  he  said  to 
her  :  Agar,  handmaid  of  Sarai,  whence  coraest  thou?  and  wither  goest 
thou  ?  And  she  answered  :  I  flee  from  the  face  of  Sarai,  my  mistress. 
And  the  Angel  ot  the  Lord  said  to  her  :  Keturn  to  thy  mistress,  and 
hunible  thyself  under  her  hand"— v.  1.  How  strange  must  all  this  be  for 
Abolitionists  who  retain  their  belief  in  the  .Bible!  ^God  sends,  an  Angel 
purposely  to  tell  a  runaway  slave  to  return  to  her  mistress,  and  humble 
herself  to  her  ;  and  Abolitionists  have  set  aside  all  laws,  anrl  torn  the 
fundamental  articles  of  the  Constitution,  to  enable  runaway  slaves  to 
escape  the  pursuit  and  just  demands  of  their  masters  ;  the  angel  pro- 
clairaS'O'bedience  and  submission  to  slaves,  and  they  excite  them  to  revolt, 
and  are  ready  to  aid  them  in  shaking  off  the  authority  of  their  masters. 
Nothing  move  is  wanted  to  show  that  the  spirit  of  Abolitionists  i^  not 
the  spirit  of  tlie  Angels  of  God,  the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  the  spirit  of  truth 
and  justice,— but  the  demon  of  anarchy,,  discord,  stuiibornness,  and  pride. 
Again,  the  following  chapter  of  Genesis  mentions  that  Abraham  circum- 
cised all  the  males  of  his  house,  not  only  i  those  who  were  born  in  his 
hou?e,  but  also  "  the  bought  servants,  "  —  v.  23  and  27,  —  which  shows 
that  the  sale  of  slaves  is  not  condemned  by  Scripture.  Indeed,  it  seems 
that  every  page  of  Holy  Writ  contains  some  statement  to  demolish  the 
false  and  unjust  principles  of  Abolitionism.  Those  men  must  be  ignorant 
cvenof  the  Ten  Commandments  of  God  ;  for  the  Tenth  Commandment 
also  forbids  coveting  our  neighbor's  property  :  "  nOr  his  servant,  nor  his 
handmaid,  nor  his  ox,  "  <fec.  —  Exod.  xx^.  17.  The  Lord  here  forbida 
desiring  and  designing  to  take  servants  from  their  maaters,  and  the  mo- 
dern fanatics  not  only  desire,  but  actually  take  iniquitous  means  to  rel- 
ease seryants  from  their  masters,  in  defiance  of  the  plainest  laws  of 
Ood.  Finally,  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Exodus  contains  laws,  ema- 
nating from  God  himself,  to  regulate  Slavery  among  the  Jews.  The 
.Jewish  servant  or  slave  who  had  sold  himself,  could  be  retained  only, 
until  the  year  of  the  general  jubilee,  by  a  special  law  of  the  Jews. 
The  same  chapter  contains  sereral  provisions  relating  to  the  same  sub- 
•^t :  they  all  i«uppose  servitude  to  be  lawful.  The  twenty-fifth  chapter  of 
Ij^viticus  allows  Jewa  to  have  bondmen  and  bondwomen  of  the  nations 
that  are  round  about  them  :  "  These  you  shall  have  for  servants,  and, 
by  right  of  inheritance,  shall  leave  thera  to  your  posterity,  and  shall 
poeeesB  them  for  ever"— v.  44,  45,  46.  Here  is  Slavery  again  sanctioned 
and  approved  by  the  law  of  God  himself  consigned  in  a  Book  which  all 
revere  as  the  Word  of  God.  Can  there  be  anything,  then,  moi-e  unscrip- 
tttral  thah  Abolitionism  :  and,  if  this  country  be  the  country  of  the  Bible, 
as  some  have  asBerted.  Abolitionism  must  be  then  of  exotic  growth. 


>6f 


I  am  aware  of  an  objection  —  which  is  indeed  a  serious  cue  ~  but 
which  I  meet  at  once,  because  it  will  wohderfally  Btrengthen  my  argu- 
ment. The  Jews  were  a  rade  and  carnal  people  :  their  religion  wa«  but 
mdimental  and  figurative,  and  very  imperfect.  These  defects  have  been 
amended  in  the  Xew  Law,  which  has  brought  all  things  to  perfection. 
Hence  some  might  think  that  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Founder  of  the 
New  Law,  has  abolished  Slavery,  although  it  was  allowed  in  times  past. 
Indeed,  this  is-  what  has  taken  place  with  regard  to  some  points  relative 
to  marriage.  Divorce,  and  polygamy  were  allowed  to  them  of  old.  Still 
no  One  could  sanction  the  practice  of  them  by  the  examj^le  of  the  good 
men  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  by  the  Law  of  Moses.  Bat  the  case  is  as 
clear  and  obvious  as  possible.  Oar  Lord  has  expressly,  formally,  and 
pointedly  abolished  divorce  and  polygamy  :  "They  shall  b3  two  in  one  ;" 
"  What  God  has  joined,  no  man  can  put  asunder  ; '"  but  He  has  not  pro- 
scribed or  forbidden  Slavery.  There  is  not  a  word  in  th?  New  Testament 
to  prohibit  it,  but  there  are,  on  the  contrary,  plain  and  evident  approba- 
tions of  it.  In  the  eighth  C'lapter  of  St  Matthew,  a  Centurion  Slave- 
holder comes  to  Our  Lord  to  ask  for  the  cure  of  his  servant,  and,  in  the 
course  of  the  conversation,  the  Centurion  says  :  ''  I  have  soldiers  under 
me  ;  and  I  say  to  this  man  go,  and  he  gooth  ;  and  to  another  come,  and 
he  Cometh  :  and  to  my  servant  do  this,  and  he  doeth  it  ;  and  Jesus  hear- 
ing this  wondered,  and  said  :  "  Amen  ;  I  say  to  vou,  I  have  iwt  found  so 
great  faith  in  Israel.  "  How  different  was"  thisVay  of  acting  from  that 
of  an  Abolitionist.  The  latter  would  have  reproached  the  Centurion  for 
the  crime  of  injustice,  barbarity,  and  inhumanity  in  keeping  slaves.  Jpsus, 
on  the  contrary,  not  only  has  no  rebuke  to  administer  on  the  score  of 
Slavery,  but  admires  and  praises  the  faitii  of  that  man,  and  grants  a  cure 
to  his^servant,  a  manifest  and  incontestable  proof  that  Our  Lord  did  not 
hold  the  Centurion  guilty  for  having  a  slave.  Let  it  b3  .remarked  tliat 
the  wor.d  servant,  here  in  the  imssages  already  quoted,  moans  a  slave, 
--'in  Laiin,  .?«ri;//5,  —  and  when  the  Scriptuve  speaks  of  servants 
in  a  limited  sense,  as  are  the  white  servants  among  us,  they  are 
called  hireling-3  or  laborers..  The  Apostles,  who  were  taught  by  Our 
Lord,  and  who  pfeaclied  His  Gospel,'  and  established  His  Church  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  had  also  to  speak  of  slaves,  and  they,  have  done 
so,  in  their  inspired  writings,  so  as  to  leave  no  doubt  oii  tiie  right  which 
a  -master  has  to  keep  his  slave,  and  on  the  obligation. of  a  slave  tp .honor 
and  obey  his  master.  St.  Paul,  in  the  seventh  cliapter- of  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  saj-s  positively,  that  each  one  qusfht  to  renjaia 
in  the  state  of  life  in  wliich  he  was  wlien  called  to  Christianity.-  —  slave,, 
if  he  was. slave  ;  free,  if  he  was  free —  for  this  is  pf  little  consequence, 
riewed  in  reference  to  the  ne.^t  life  : "'  Let  ever>^  man  abide  in  the  same- 
calling  in  which  he  w.is  called.  Art  thou  called  being  a  bondman  ?  care 
not  for  it  ;  but  if  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather.  For.  he 
that  ifi  called  to  the  Ix)rd  being  a  bondman,  is  the  freeman  of  theLord^ 
Likewise  he  that  is  called  brdng  free,  is  the  bondman  of  Christ.  "  '  Fro«^ 


10 

wMcli  we  see  how  far  the  Apostles  were,,  frooi  the  dox:triiie  and-pi-actice 
of  modera  fanatics,  who  exhort  slaves  to  make  t^iemselves  free  by  any 
me3ins  they  C(i.n,  per  fas  etnefas.  St.' Fidl,  in  .several  of,- his  Epistles, 
speaks  of  the  mutual  duties  of  slaves  and  masters.:  lie,  never  4i""^ai^s  of 
i;he  newdutyiiiveilted  hf-  Abolitionists ;—  the  pretended  duty  for.  the 
master -to  libera,  te  and  liianiitiiit  his  .slave,  .and  the  duty  for  the  slaTe  to 
run  away  fi-om  his  master.  eVeJi  by  using  yiolence.  and  causing  bloodshed. 
The  inspil^ed  Apostle' tells  the  "slave  to  obey,  as  a  point  ofeonscien.ee,  as 
a  necessary  means  (^f  salvation  ;  and  he  tells  the  master  to  tre-at  iiisser- 
Tant  with  iastice  'S^r^d  kindness."  .Thus,  Cobs.  in.  22  :  ''  Servants,  ^pbey 
in  all  thing^  y'oiir  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  not  •  serving  to  the  eye, 
as  p>leasing  men,  but  in  simplicity  ol  heart,  fearing  God'. ...,..,  Masters, 
do  to- your  servants  that  wiixclr  is  just  and  equal,'  knowing  that  you. also 
have  a  Master  in  Heaven."  Similar  admonitions  occur  in, several  O'ther 
•Epistles  :  it  M'ould  be  snperauous  to  quote, them.  There  is  a  passage  yet 
more  pointed,  I  Tim.,  c-  vi  r  Whosoever  arc  servants  under  the  yoke,  let 
them  count  their  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  lest  the  name  and  doctrine 
of  the  Lord  be  blasphemed.  ...  ."  These  things  teach  and  exhort.  If 
.•any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  the  sound  words  of  Our 
Lord  JesTis,  Christ,  and  to  that  doctrine  'which  is  according  to  piety,  he 
is  proud,  knowing 'ne thing.;  "  and  truly  Abolitionism  is  but.. a  compound 
of  insufferable  pride  and  unpardonable '.ignorance.  St.  Peter,  First 
'Epistle,  II.  18,  points' out  the  duty  o'f  obedience  to  servants  in  all  cases 
whatever  :  "  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all  fear,  not  only 
to  the  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward.''-  But  facts  instruct 
UE  better  than  words,  and  we  have"  to  'see  the  conduct  of  St.  Paul  with 
regard  to  a  fugitive  slave,  to  judge  "better  of  the  glaring  opposition  of 
Abolitionism  to  the  Apostles,  and  to  the  Sacred  Scripture.  The  Epistle 
to  Philemon  is  a  short  page  of  the  Sacred  Yoh,ime,  which  they  should 
indeed  desire  to  expunge.  '  Philemon  had  a  slave  called  Onesimus,  who 
ran  away  from  his  master,  a  citizen  of  Colossa?,  and  vrhora  St.  Paul  found 
,in  Rome,  and  converted  to  Cliristianity.  Now  St.  Paul  found  in  Onesi- 
.mus  qualities  vrhich  made  him  desirous  of  his  services  in  his  ministry. 
What  did  the  great  Apostle  do  ?  Did  he  tell  Onesimus  that  he  had  been 
•right  to  rutL  away,  and  procure  his  liberty  at  any  price?  No  ;  he  sent 
back  Onesimus  tc  his  master  with  and  Epistle,  which  is  a  perfect  model 
of  sweet,  persuasive  eloquence,  begging  Philemon  to  forgive  his  slave, 
and  send  him  back  to  him,  as  he  needed  his  services  in  the  bonds 'of  the 
€fospel.  Paul  had  just  claims  on  the  gratitude  of  Philemon  ;  stilh  he 
vould  not  detain  his  fugitive  slave  without  his  consent,  but  sent  him 
back,  that  his  master  might  be  perfectly  free,  to  grant  or  to  refuse  the 
favor  afjked  of  him.  Hov/  different  are  these  views  of  St.  Paul,  and 
of  the  Word,  of  God,  frorh  those  which  are  .entertained  by  Abolitionists ! 
We  have  now  seen  how  both  the  New  and  Old  Testaments  admit,  sanc- 
tion, and  authorize  Slavery,  from  which  we  conclude  that  this- state  of  life 
is  not  against  the  Divine  and  positive  law.  We  add  now  that  the  Church 


X 


11 


^ 


has  made  no  general  law  againt  Slavery,  but  has  kept  up  the  teaching  and 
the  examples  of  the  Apostle:?  ou  this  point,  leaving  mastei»s  at  liberty  to 
keep  or  to  manumit  their  slaves,  as  they  thought  proper.  The  book  I 
have  in  my  hands,  beloved  brethren,  is  the  Canou  Law,  or  Law  of  the 
Church.  Now  the  book  is  full  of  passages  relating  to  slaves  ;  and  to 
attempt  to  prove  that  the  Canon  Law  recognizes  Slavery,  and  countenan- 
ces masters  in  retaining  possession  of  their  slaves,  would  almost  be  lucB- 
crous,  and  would  be  tantamount  to  an  attempt  to  prove  that  the  son 
shines  in  the  heavens,  at  mid-day,  as  there  are  whole  chapters,  indeed,, 
and  sections  on  that  matter.  Not  to  detain  you  too  long,  beloved 
brethren,  I  will  content  myself  with  one  or  two  quotations  that  will,  in- 
deed, cover  the  whole  ground  of  the  discussion.  The  Canon  Law  con- 
tains several  provisions  in  relation  to  the  ordination  of  slaves,  as  the 
example  of  St.  Paul  ordaining  Onesimus,  seems  to  have  been  a  precedent 
for  such  appointments.  The  Eighty-first  Apostolic  Canon  says  that 
slaves  may  be  oi-dained.  if  manumitted  by  tlicir  masters  :  but  if  they  be 
admitted  to  the  clergy  without  the  will  of  their  masters,  they  must  be 
returned  to  their  masters.  Now  we  sec  this  to  have  been  done  from  the 
same  Canon  Law,  Distinct.  .54,  cap.  10,  whore  tlie  Pope  orders  one  Le- 
ontius,  who  had  b('eu  promoted  to  the  lower  ranks  of  the  clergy,'  to  be 
under  snbjectio'n  and  obedience  to  his  master  in  the  condition  of  a  slave. 
Assuredly  the  Church  could  not  liave  recoj^nized  the  rights  of  masters 
in  a  more  forcible  and  pointed  manner  ;  no  one,  tlien,  has  a  riglit  to  take 
slaves  from  their. masters  against  the  will  of  those  masters.  The  Canon 
Law,  can.  xvii.,  qu.es.  4,  c.  37,  contains  a  decree  of  the  Couucil  of  Gan- 
gres,  held  in  the  ]>eginning  of  the  fourth  century,  which  condemns  here- 
tics who  maintained  the  principles  of  modern  Aboliotiists" ;  whence  we 
see  that  the  fanatics  of  our  day  have  not  the  merit  of  having  invented 
their  hypocritical  schemes  of  fal?e  philanthropy  j  they  bad  predeces- 
sors in  the  early  ages  of  the  Church,  who  wished  to  I'il/erate  slaves,  arid 
who  denounced  masters  as  guilty  of  injustice  and"  inliumanity.  Here  is 
now  the  decree  of  the  Council  against  those  heretics  :  ''If  any  one 
teaches  the  servant  of  another,  under  the  plea  of  religion,  to  contemn 
his  master,  and  to  quit  his  service,  instead  of  teaching  liim  to  Serve  his 
master  in  good  fSith  and  with  all  respect,  let  him  be  anathema.  "  No 
law  could  be  framed  more  expressive  and  more  pointed  against  Aboli- 
tionism. The  highest  penalty' inflicted  by  the  Churcli,  that 'of  anathema 
or  excommnnication,  is  pronounced  against  those  who  teach  the  doctrine 
of  Abolitionists,  and  it  is  only  an  aggravation  of  their  guilt  to  allege 
pretexts  of  religion,  and  wrest  Holy  Writ  in  support  of  their  attempt^. 
lliis  is  indeed  more  than  sufficient  to  show  that  Slaveholders  have  the 
sanction  of  the  Church  and  of  Religion  in  retaining  the  possession'  of 
their  servants.  Ecclesiastical  History  tells  ue,  as  we  gather  from  au- 
thentic d6cuments,  that  the  Church  and  Monasteries  owned  slaves  ;  and 
St.  Gregory  the  Great — the  learned  and  pious  Pope,  to '  whom  England 
is  indebted  for  her  conversion  to    Christ'anity — with   the  money-  of  tlfe  • 


12 

Roman  Churcli  bcngUt  Ei\^4isii  slayes^  aud  al so .,  Barbary  slavesc-^to .  use 
the  fdrm^er  in  evp,ngelizi^>g  B^k'taiid,'  aiid  tlie'latt'er  in" -the  -sqrvipe  of  the 
sick,  in  a  P^oinaii  liospitaL  We.  leamhiis' from  .tl^o. letters,  of  tlie  Pontiff 
him'^elf. '  !.lbgurcdjj  no  .^lave  owner  nqed  scruple -to  do.  what  so  holy.  So 
zealW,  aid  so  iWrncd  aTbpe;has.dane. 


ana  periiaps'j-h  the  greater  part  of  Cliristiai;.  nations.  But  such  a-prohibitiou 
■  takes  its  fQrce'aiid. 'cfucacy' solely' rVom .the . civil  law.  ,As. .lor,  the. Uiiited 
States,  it 'ic;  as'plaiii,  tliaf  the  ;C.oiistita.tioD,'  framed. after.. the  War  of  lufle- 
nendencpj^recognises'  the  relations  of'  master  and  slave,  and  tlmt  the  law 
of  the  .Unifed'^lave^  givQsa  right  to  the  nmster  to  reclaim  and  seize  his 
fugitive  slave,,  wherevQr  '.he.  may.. 'be  foand  within  the  United  States. 
These  statements  are  u;Qdeni.able/  and  there  ia  no  occasion  for  me  to 
dwell  on  a,  point  known  to  eyery])ody.  Those  States  which  have  enacted 
Jaws  ao-ainst  the  Constitution  and  the  Legishition  of  the  United  States, 
have  sapped  the  very  foundation  of  social  order,  andarethe  true  and  res- 
ponsible causes  and  agents  of  the  misfortunes  which  have  already  befallen 
the  nation,  and  of  the  greater  calamities  with  which  it  is  threatened. 
The  w^ords  of  my  text  receive  here  their  application, :  ''"  Justice  exalteth 
.a  nation  ':  but  sin  maketh  nations  miserable..'' 

■  Before  coiicludiug  this  first'  part  of  my  address,  I  ipust  take  a  cursory 
notice  of- the  reasons  and' objections  raised  by  Abolitionists  ag-ainst  the 
dootriiie  delivered  in  the  preceding  remarks.  1  will  not  notice  the  alle- 
<yation  of  agrarians  and  anarcMsts  tl:at  "all  men  are  born  free  and 
equal."    This  assertion,   altlioug-h  liberal  ai^d  popular  with  a  certain 

'  class  of  persons.,  is,  however,  fali^e  and  a  glaring  falsehood.  Some  are 
born  p.oor,  and  others  rich^    Some  are  born  weak,  puny,  aiid  unhealthy  ;^ 

■  others  strong  and  heal tl\7.  ■  Some  "are  born  dull  and  stupid,  others  of 
quick  ^nd  penetrating 'iiitellect,  fete,  etc.;  for  the  enumeration  would  be 
tpo  long.     The  true  ground  of  equality  m  mei;i  is  that  we  ,wili  be   con- 

.^dercned  by  our  Maker  only  for  guilt  voluntarily  and  freely  incurred,  or 

jriewarded  in  the  nest  life  only  for  the  supernatural  gr^d  we   will  have 

accomplished  in  this  life.     In  all  these  respects  a   slave  is  absolutely  on 

the  .same  footing  with  his  master,     ^ut'  the-  Bible  is  Brought  forward 

,.; against  Slavery,  and  Abolitionists  of  course  quote  the  Bible  in  support 

,   of  their  theories,  although  it  must  be  apparent  to  every  one  froipa  the 

^quotations  already  adduced,  that  if  the  battle,  of  abolitionism  is  to^  be 

feugiit  on  Scripture  ground,  they  are  already   discomfited. ,.  Iiidee.d,  it  is 

.^enough  to  remark,  that  some  of  the  modern  fanatic;?  have  gone  to  that 

length  of  impiety  and  .blasphemy,  as  to,  assert  unblushingly  that  if  the 

Bible  upholds  Slavery,  the  Bible^must  be, amended.     No  .better  confuta- 

"tiou  of  abolitionism  need  be  adduced.,  than   the  .necessity  to  which  it 

4rivea  its  defenders  oi"  uttering  execrable  impieties  and  blasphemies. 


13 

,Tlpse  wIiQ  would  not.  set  aside  the  authority  of  the  inspired  volume 
'aUege^firom  it  these  geiieral  maxin^s  that  Oliri.it  has  liberated  ps-  that 
there  is  -no  slay.e  m  the.Christiaii  religion.  But  it  is  evident  they  speak 
of  spiritual  liU'V't^^  of  thetruo  liberty,  the  onlv  one  vhic^i.  de3(5Pves  the 
naiiieJiberty/roin£m,frpm  corrupt  incliuations,  from  Satan,  and  not 
liberty  from  civil  powers,  and- masters,,  to  whom  -thev  teach  .positively 
'and  ex-pvescly,  that.ob'eciicnce  is  due,  so  that  to  re.sist/them,'.ig  to  resist 
'the  appointment  of  God.  Hence,  tlie  passage'  which  says  there  is  no 
.slave,  runs  tiius,.Galat.  rii,  28.  "'There  is  .  neither  Jew.  no.r  Greek- 
there  is  neitlier  bond  nor  free  ;  there  is, neither  male  nor  female  For 
jou  are.  all  one  in.  Christ  Jesus.''  Words  which  it  would  ..bq  ludicrous 
to  allege  as  intimating  the  extinction  of  domestic  Slavery.-  The  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  however,  which  the  abolitionists  urge  witii  greater 
confidence,  are  those  which  command  men  to  pav  the  wages  of  their  la- 
borers and  hirelings.  The  following  are  those  they  quote"*:  Lev,  xix  13. 
the  wages  of  him  that  hath  been  hired  by  tliee.  shall  not  abide  with  thee 
until  the  morning.— Dent.  xxiv.  14.  15,  has  a  text  of  the  same  import  • 
and  St.  James,  in  the  New  Testament,  rebukes  thus  the  rich.— Ch.  v.  4! 
"  Behold,  the  Lire  of  the  laborers,  who  have  reaped  your  fields,  of  whick 
.you  have  defrauded  them,  crieth  ;  and  the  cx\  of  them  liath  entered  into 
the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth."  But  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that 
these  quotations  have  no  bearing  v/hatever  on  the  questio'n.  When  our 
Slaveholders  hire  laborers,  they'pay  them  accordimr  to  the  ao-reement 
made,  and  this  is  all  tliat  the  Scripture  speaks  of.  the  texts,  here  quo- 
ted, speak  of  laborers  and  hired  servants,  and  not  of  slaves  belono-ino- 
to  the  masters,  .for  whom  they  work.  The  very  fact  that  ■  the  Scriplure 
makes  the  distinction  between  hired  men,  or  laborers  and  slaves,  shows 
that  the  slaves  are  not  entitled  to  any  wages,  because  they  are  not  hired 
by  the  day.  Slaves,  however,  receive  their  hire  or  a  compensation  for 
their  services  in  the  tood.  clothing  and.  dwelling  which  they  receive,  iu 
the  care  that  is  taken  of  them  during  their  infancy,  aud  in  the  assurance 
Ihey  have  to  be  providi":!  for  iu  time  of  sickness,  and  in  old  age. 
,  The  preceding  remarks  must  convince  every  candid  mind,  thai  the 
■pretentions  of  Abolitionists  have  no  foundation  whateyer  in  nature,  or 
morality,  or  the  word  of  God,  either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  or  in 
fte  enactments  of  law-givcrs  of  the  religious  or  the  political  order. 
,  The  fact  is,  that  there  has  been,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  an 
actual,  conspiracy  against  justice  and  truth  ;  and  I  am  sorry  I  have  to 
state,V(buta  just  regard  for  truth  and  justice  compels  me  to- do  it,)  this 
.conspiracy  against  justice  and  truth,  is  headi'd  by  fanatical  preachers, 
'^whose  only  object  is  to  inflame  the  wicked  passions  of  their  hearers! 
Yes,  beloved  brethren,  tl)e  chief  cause,  the  true  source  of  the  misfortunes 
.which  weigh  already  upo:i  the  land,  and  bid  fair  to  increase  a  hundred 
fold,  lies  in- the  misrepresentations  of  ignorant  and  fanatical  zealot-^  who 
desecrate  and  pollute  the  Divine  word,  speaking  in  the  name  of  God 
although  they  gainsay  all    the  teachings   of  God.     They   are  the   false 


^  V. 

14 

^r6p^6te,  of  whom  the  Scripture  sa\%  Jer.  xxtM.^1 :  "  I  did  not  eesii 
prophets^  but  yet  they  ran  ;  1  have  not  spoken  to  them,  yet  they  prophe- 
=iQed/'  Now,  beloved  bi^ethren,  they  are  the  ?am€  who  have  heretofore 
assailed,  calumniated,  vilified  our  church,  and  have  resorted  to  the  vilest 
and  most  iniquitous  devices  which  infernal  malice  can  suggest,  in  order 
to  destroy  our  holy  religion,  or  that  church  which  is  founded  on  the 
chair  of  Peter,  and  recognises  the  Pope  as  the  visible  head  of  the  churcli 
on  earth.  It  is  to  their  nefarious  machinations  that  we  are  to  ascribe 
the  burning  of  the  Charlestown  Convent,  which  in  the  middle  of  Uie 
night  drove  innocent  and  defenceless  females  out  of  their  home  into  the 
fieldSj  and  the  Philadelphia  riots,  where  arson  and  murder  against  unof- 
fending Catholics,  became  the  order  of  the  day  ;  and  so  many  other 
acts  of  crying  injustice,  cruelty  and  barbarity,  during  that  religious  ex- 
citement from  which  we  are  just  now  emerging,  I  mean  the  movement 
of  Know  Nothingism.  During  that  period,  the  press,  which  1s  more  or 
less  under  the  sway  of  those  fanatical  leaders,  has  teemed  with  the 
most -absurd,  unjust,  obscene,  and  rev-oiting  slanders  and  lies  against 
Catholic  Institutions,  chiefly  Convents,  (as  in'  the  case  of  Maria  Monk,) 
and  against  Priests.  Bishops,  and  the  Pope.  That  party,  although  a 
thousand  times  unmasked  an ^^  coaviTLced  of  perjliry,  lies, '  and  palpable 
injustice,  has- kept  On  its  cojti'^c  of  violence,  deception,  misrepresentation. 
It  seemed  quite  impOssibl;  f';--  it  to  learn  any  lesson  from  truth,  modera- 
tion, and  justice,  because  hi^'  it  was  urged  oii  by  blind  fanaticism, 
and  by  the  demon  of  religion' '  .r  rather  anti-religious  bigotry.  Tljose 
blind  leaders,  quitting' the  sphere  which  they  seem  to'cjaim,  when  they 
style  themselves  reverend,  have  sent  remonstrances  to  Congress  on 
points  evidently  out  of  the  pale  of  political  and  civil  legislation  ;  they 
have  also  invaded  State  legislatures,  and  in  those  places  have  disgraoed 
their  proceedings  by  iniquity  and  injustice!  It  is  thai  same  party.  Which 
baffled  iti  its  attempts  against  the  Catholic  Church,  which  has  opposed 
only  patience,  siletice  and  prayer  to  its  unholy  attacks,'^  and  exasperated 
by  the  rebuke  it  received  from  tlie  nation,  (for,  it  could  not  destroy  the 
sense  of  justice  so  deeply  engraved  in  the  American  breast,)  has  now 
turned  its  weapons- against  the  South,  advocating,  in  the  name  of  the 
Bible,  the  liberation  of  slaves.  But  the  South  has  not  been,  and  will 
not,  as  a  Nation,  be  as  patient  as  t^  ^^^iholic  Church'.  As  an  addi- 
tional proof  that  this  Abolitionism  ii  -  \,dme  party  which  has  lately 
waged  war  against  the  Catholic  Church,  I  have  only  to.  state  a  fact  as- 
serted by  the  late  illustrious  and  eloquent  Bishop  of  Charleston,  Dr. 
Englan<i  in  his  treatise  on  Slavery,  which  his'  death  left  imperfect,  a 
fact  of  which  he  had  been  an  eye  witness,  namely,  that  the  Abolitioniste 
of  England  presented  regularly  every  year  two  petitions  to  Parliament, 
one  to  ask  that  the  slaves  of  America  be  set  free,  the  other  to  ask  tha.t 
the  vexations  and  bloody  penalties  enacted  against  Irish  '  Catholics  be 
executed  and  strictly  enforced.  I  must  likewise  make  another  remark, 
the  truth  of  which  struck  eve^y  thinking  mind  at  the  outbreak  of  the 


15 


^/ 


^  present  disturbances.     Protestant  writers   have  been   extx>liing  the  Re- 
fc;  public  of- the  United  States,  as  endowed   with   wonderful   strength,  ata- 
ii-   biiity  and  order,  wheu  compared  with  the  Republics  of  South  America, 
■w;  in  which  the  majority  of  the  people  profess  the   Catholic  religion.     The 
.#> .  invidious  compari-son  has  often  been  made  ;  as  if-  free   and   liberal  insti- 
ll  tulions  couid  not  prosper   under   our   Church.'  and  as  if  Protestantism 
alone  could  found,  establish*   and   fostei"  RepuWiean  Institutions.     The 
present  state  of  affairs  shows  liow  ill  g;rounded  these   views  have  been. 
The  fact  is,  that  religion  has  nothing   tb  do  with  the   disturbance^  and 
agitations  of  the  Governments  of^  Spanish  origin,  'which  have  sprung  up 
South  of  tho  United  States.     The  true   cause  of  those  agitations  lies  in 
the  ambition,  and  other  wicked  passions  of  men  who  are  unwilling  to  be 
controlled  by  religion,  and  who  deem  it  right  to  attack  reIi2:ion  in  order 
to  become  rich  from  its  spoils.     But   in   the   United  States,  it  will  be 
.     properly  and  clearly  religion  or  rather  bigotry  that  will  haVe  destroyed 
'^1-  the  beautiful  fabric  of  Washington  and  the  other  great  men  who  wished 
<%,  so  much  to  keep  the  G-overnment  and  religion  separate  fro-li  ea^h  other. 
,,'  The  Catholics  of  America  have  sci-upulously  adhered  to   those   coiistitu- 
,*:.  .tiohal  provisions;  and  ha\T  interfered  only  by  praying  for  the  republic, 
V>  the  general  \>eace  and  welfare  of  their  fellow'  citizens.     As  for  the  Pro- 
•testant  Clergy,  with."  of  course,  honorable  exceptions,  they  have  brought 
5  about   this"  deplorable  state  of  things,  in  which   the  South  is  ai^ajed 
a    against  the  North,  and  in  which  war,  blood.^hed:  and  all  the  atrocities 
,  6^'  .of  civil' discord  may  yet  have  their  sad  exhibition.     Protestant   intoler- 
^rauce  and  bigotry  have  demolished  this  beautiful  edifice,  which'  wisdom, 
I,   moderation  and  prudence  had  reared  to  political  liberty.  • 

^!^     I  must  now,  brethren,   pass  to   the  second  part  of  my  discourse,  and 
^X^^  .having  shown  the  lawfulness  of  Slavery  in  general.  I  must  show  the  con- 
^  :  ditions  upon  which  this  state  of  things  receives   the  sanction  of  justice, 
of  God  himself,  and  of 'the  church^the  visible  guide  given  'us   by  Our 
^   Lord  Jesus  Christ.  •  It  is  in  this  part   that    I   may  have  to  '  thention 
^\  wrongs  which  the  South  ought  to  acknowledge  and  confess  ;  and  if  theae 
c  wrongs  be  persevered  in,  this  may  be  the  reason   why  the  Almighty,  in 
*'  his  justice  and  wise  severity,  may  sweep  Slavery  out  of  the  land,  not  be- 
'^v  cause  Slavery  is  bad  in  itself,  but  because  men  will   abuse   it  through 
wanton  malice.     The  necessity  of  some  conditions  for  the  legitimacy  of 
Slavery  must   appear  evident  to  everybody.     A  man.  by  beinfT^lave, 
does  not  cease  to  be  a  man,  retaining   all  the   properties^  qualities,  attri- 
butes, duties,  righte  and  responsibilities  attached  to  human  nature,  or  to 
a  being  endowed  with  reason  and  understanding,  and  made  to  the  image 
and  likeness  of  Gk>d.     A  master  has  not  o^er  a   slave  the  same  rights 
which  he  has  over  an  animal,  and  whoever   would  yiew  his  slaves  me- 
rely as  beasts,  would  have  virtually  abjured   human   nature,   and  would 
deserve  to  be  expelled  from  human  society.     I  will  then"  state  the.  va- 
rious conditions  which  must  accompany  a  legitimate  pc^session  of  slaves. 
In  the  first  place  it  is  domestic  Slavery  which  we  advocate  to  be  taw- 


16 

,  fill,  and^tp  have  the  sanction  of  God  himself,  but  it  is  not  the  "  filave- 
'  tj-ade, "  or  the  African  trade.  The  slave-trade  is  absolutely  immoral 
^  and  unjust,  and  is  against  all  laws  natural,  divine,  ecclesiastical' and 
dvil.  The  slave-trade  consists  in  kidnapping  negroes  by  fraud  and  vio- 
lence on  the  coasts  of  Africa,  and  bringing  them  to  America  for  sale. 
This  trade  is  evidently  condemned  by  justice  and  humanity.  What 
right  has  any  man  to  steal  another  man  and.  enslave  him?  This,  next  to 
murder,  seems  to  be  the  grossest  violation  of  justice  that  can  be  concei- 
ved. It  is  no  palliation  of  this  trade  to  assert  that  the  condition  of 
those  poor  creatures  will  be  bettered  by  selling  them  to  christian  mas- 
ters in  America  :  for  evil  is  not  to  be  done,  in  order  to  obtain  a  good 
result.  It  is  absolutely  evil  to  deprive  them  of  liberty  without  any  just 
cause  ;  no  good  effect  can  render  it  lawful.  Besides,  that  good  effect  ib 
doubtful,  as  the  religion  and  civilisation  of  the  whites  who  commit  such 
horrible  theft,  must  be  hateful  to  those,  poor  negroes.  It  is  not  an  ex- 
cuse for  the  trade,  but  an  additional  monstrosity,  to  say  that  those  ne- 
groes are  sold  to  the  captains  of  vessels  by  other  tribes  who  have  <;apr 
tured  them  in  war  ;  for  the  war  is  for  no  other  reason  than  to  make 
prisoners  ;  it  is  not  a  war,  but  an  abominable  plunder  of  human  beiflgs. 
Hence  the  slave-trade  has  been  most  severely  prohibited  by  nearly  all 
European  Governments  ;  it  is,  as  all  kiww,  expressly  forbidden  .by  the 
United  States,  and  we  hear  frequently  of  vessels  ei;i gaged  in  that  abomiB- 
able  traffic,  having  been  seized  and  captured  by  the  men-of-war  of  the 
Nation.  '  As  to  the  ecclesiastical  law.  his  Holiness,  Gregory  XVI,  in  the 
year  1839,  issued  apostolic  letters  forbidding  most  'expressly  this  shame- 
ful commerce,  forbidding  any  one  to  teach  that  it  is  lawful.  In  that 
document,  his  Holiness  quotes  decrees  of  his  predecessors  who  had  co»- 
demneid.the  slave-trade.  The  letter  of  Pop&  Gregory 'XVI,  was  solemn- 
ly read  in  the  council  of  American  .Prelates,  held  in  Baltimore  in  the 
"year  1840,  All  laws  stigmatize  and  reprove  the  slave-trade,  and  it 
must  be  a  subject  of  regret  and  mortification  for  the  .true -fnends  of  the 
Southern  cause  and  Southern  rights,  that  some  people  have  expressed, 
or  hinted,  a  desire,  that  the  trade  should  be  revived,  and  that  the  .pro- 
'  .  hibition.  of  it  by  the  Government  should  be  repealed.  Fortunately  the 
number  of  the  advocates  of  this  infamous  trade  is  so  small,  that  it  may 
well  be  considered  as  nothing.  Indeed  if  a  Southern  Confederacy  was 
.  ;t,o  authorise  this  worst  joi  piracies,  we  could  predict  with  certainty  'its 
'speedy  downfall,  because  jt  would  not  be  founded  on  justice,-  but  on 
iniquity.  "Justice  exalteth  a  Nation ;  but  sin  maketh  Nations  miser- 
able."   But  there  is  not  the  slightest  fear  of  this. 

The  second  condition  of  legitimate  Slavery,  is  that  the  rigths  of  free 
colored  persons  be  respected.  The  moment  .spme  colored  people  have 
acquired,  or  possess  lawful  exemption  from  Slavery,  it  is  as  unjust  to 
enslave  them  again,  as  it  would  l)c  to  enslave  a  white  man,  because  the 
ground  of  Slavery  is  not  in  the  color  of  the  skin,  but  the  titles  Which 
make  one,  the  legitimate  servant  of  another.    It  would  be  then  a  palf>able 


17 

aod  uureatjouiable  violation  of  all  justice  to  sell  thorn,  or  to  expel  them 
from  the  State,  or  to  vex  and  molest  tliem  merely  because  they  are  col- 
ored. There  is  as  nmch  injustice  in  vexing  the  free  colored-  f)opuIation, 
as  there  wouldbe  in  vexing  white  men,  either  on  account  of  their  ori^iR, 
because,. for  instance,  they  areIrL:iior  Geraian.  or-  on  accoimt  of  their 
relifrion.  It  has  been  a  subject  of  bitter  moitiik-ation  for  the  -lovers  of 
JHStice  and  humanity  to  learn  thathonie  State  legislatures  have  had  be- 
fore Ihem  laws  for  banishing  or  selling  sucii  per-^ons.  .1  trust  the  escut- 
cheon of  Florida  will  not  be  .sullied  i  y  such  unjust  ijtatute.  and  •  that  the 
love  of  justice  in  which  all  are  eciuaily  intereste<i.  will  for  ever  prevent 
the  attempt  of  such  unwise. legislation.  Some  Slaveholders  may  imagine 
that  the  expulsion  of  free  negroes  would  strerirhteu  their  tenure  of  slaves, 
but  they  are  mistaken  ;  injustice  will  not  uphold  anything  -.injustice  is 
%  rotten  pi*op,  which  will  only  accelerate  the  fall  of  whatever  rests  on  it. 
Hence  the  friends  of  justice  and  order  have  been  highly  gratified  at  the 
late  proceedings  of  the  South  Carolinti  Legislature,  on.  the  occasion  of  a 
bill  which  was  introduced  to  sell  all  free  pcj-sons  of  color.  The  gentle- 
man who  had  to  report  on  ...the  bill-,  follow  iug  the  dictates  of  justice,  • 
wich  is  never  more  imperious  and  more  sacreii  than  in  tiie  case  of  a  'con- 
test between  the  strong  and  the  weak,  pointed  out  both  the  injustice  and 
the  impolicy  of  such  a  measiire,  and  concluded  energetically  against  it  in 
the  following  strain,  which  I  can  quote  only  in.  sub:?tance  :  "  Forbid  it  jus- 
tice, forbid  it  humanity,  fori>idit  conscience.  Let  us  not  by  such  a  glaring 
act' of  injustice  disgrace  our  cause,  and  render  ourselves  unworthy  of  the 
smiles  and  countenance  of  the  Supreme  Arbit<3r  of  all  events,  in  this  the 
hour  of  our  need."  This  conclusion  of  the  report  does  gi-eat  honor  to 
the  head  and  heart  of  those  who  lead  politics  in  Charleston,  and  indeed 
there  is  not  a  more  crying,  cowardly,  infamous  tyranny  than  that  of  a 
strong  Government  on  colored  people,  precisely  because  the  latter  arc 
weak,  defenceless,  and  incapable  of  protecting  themselves. 

Here  is  another  condition  I  must  mention  in  the  name  of  morality,  in 
the  name  of  public  decency,  in  the  name  of  religion,  in  the  name  of  ChriEK'j' 
tianity  :  it  is  that  the  whites  do  not   take   advantage   of  the  weakness,  ' 
ignorance,  dependerce,  and  lowly   position   of  colored  females,  whether 
slaves  or  not — availing  theraselvefe  of  the  impunity  which,   hitherto,  laws 
in  the  South  have  extended  to  this  sort  of  iniquity.     It   is  •  indeed  right 
that  the  two  races  should  be  kept   distinct,   and   public  sentiment   repu- 
diates amalgamation,  and  hence  such  connubial  alliances  arc    not   to  bo 
encouraged  and  formed.     But,  things  being  on  that  footing,  every   out- 
rage against  morals  should  be  repressed.     It  is  the  duty  of  the  clergy  to 
protest  against   every   violaition  of  the  moral  law.  and  l:>y  making  the 
pi'cscnt  remark.  I  discharge  but  too    weakly   and   imperfectly   a   sacred|> 
obligation,  attached  to  the  responsible  and   dangerous  ofiSce  of  Bishop, '•» 
which  r  hold  in  the  Church  of  God.     I  am  a  sincere  and  devoted  friend -^ 
of  the  South,  to  whidi  Divine  Providence  has  sent  me.  and  I  am  ready  to  ' 
uodergo  any  hardship — to  make  any  sacrifice — for  the  true  welfare  of  the 


.    '  18 

people  among  whom  I  live  ;  still  I  must  say  it  for  conscience  sake — wh^^ 
kriowswhetherthe  Almighty  does  not  design  to   iisa  the  present  distur- 
bances for  the  destruction  of  frequent  occasions  of  immorality,  which   t\e 
subservient  and  degraded  position  of  the  slave  offers  to  the  lewd.     I  hope 
I  am  a  false  prophet  :  but,  at  the  same  time,  I  must  admonish  my  country- 
men that  obscure,  secret,  and  hidden  crimes,  often  call  for  an  open,  public, 
and  solemn  chastisement  ■  at  the  hands  of  the   Supreme  Moderator  of> 
events  ;  and  I  must  remind  them  that  the  waters  of  tlie  flood,    in.,  which,' 
the  whole  race  of  mankind  was  svfept  off,  save   a  small   remnaM^  were 
sent  by  the  Almighty  to- punish  an  impure  and  lowd  generation  ;'  I  must 
remind  them  that  Sodom  and  G-omorrha  were  consumed  in  a  shower   of  . 
burning  pitch  and  brimstone,  because  of  the  unnatural  lusts  of  its  profii-*' 
gate  inhabitants.  It  is  but  right  that  means  should  be  taken  to  check  liber-' 
tinism  and  licentiousness,  and  that  the  female  slave  be   surr  Vii;}d<5d  witfi^^ 
sufficient  protection  to  save  her  from  dishonor  and  crime.     The  Boiithern^^!; 
Confederacy,  if  it  should  exist,  must  rest  on  morality  and  justice,  and  \^Jr 
could  never  be  entitled  to   a  special  protection   from  above,   unless  it 
professes  to  surround  vSlavery  with   the  guarantees  that  will   secure  its" 
morality. and  virtue. 

This  leads  me  to  another  condition  on  a  subject  kindred  to  the  preceding.  *. 
It  is  thatrnatrimonial  relations  be  observed  among  slaves,   and   that  the 
lawsof  marriage  be  enforced  among  them.     All  know   that  there  have 
been, and  there  are  frightful  abuses  about  this  point,  and!  leave  il  to  the 
conscience,  reason,  and  good  sense  of  any -upright  and  virtuoiis  '  man^ 
whether  God  can  bless  a  countiy  and  a  state  of  things  in  whicli  tliiere  is  2i,j 
woful  disregard  of  the  holy  laws  of  marriage.     It  is  my  duty  to  proclaim'^; 
to  masters  that  they  have  indeed  a  right  on  '  the  labor  of  their  slaves ;' 
they  can  justly  require  of  them  obedience,  respect,  and  service.     But  th^y  ^^ 
are  not  the  masters  of  their  slavas  in  such  'a  way  that  they  can  forbid . 
them  marriage,  or  prescribe  it   at  pleasure.      Although  they  can  gi^ve 
directions  and  "advice  to  thoir  sei"vants  on  this  point,  still  fhose  servants 
are  their  own  masters  as  to  that.      The  titles- to   Slavery  include  Only 
labor  and  service,  but  thoy  cannot  change  the  nature  of  men.    ■  It  would*^ 
be  unnatural  and  foolish  to  suppose  that  the  whole  race'  is  deprivM,  of.^ 
the  faculty  of  marrying  by  their  servile  dependence  :  and  it  wO.uld'  be   2i, 
shocking,  hideous,  and  a-bbminable  conclusion,  to  admi't  that   they   mnsV 
live  in  concubinage  and  "adultery.      Hence  religion  and  morality   point'. 
out  to  -masters  a  strict  and  rigorous  duty,'  not  only  not',  to   oppose  the 
mathage  of'their  servants,  but  to  promcte  it'^nd    to  •  procure  for  them 
all-ee  necessary  mean's  of  avoiding  immorality  and  crime.     Slaves   must, 
be; ncouragodto' marry,- 'and   the  laws  of  marriage  must  be  observedT' 
among  them  exactly  as  among  the  vhites.     The  law  of  God  admits   of  nb, 
distinction  in  this  respect :  the  laws  of  morality  are   not ;  different  w:ith,;' 
the  different  races  of  men,  and' a  state  of  things  which   is'  criminal   with 
the  whites,'  cannot  be  excusable  with  the  colored  people.     There  is   but 
one  Christian  code  of  morality  and  of  domestic  order.     Our   Lord   Jesus 


^U'^ 


19 


Christ  has  appointed  laws  and  sacred  prescriptions  for  marriage,  whkh 
He  has,  indeed,  raised  to  the  dignity  and  excellence  of  a  sacrament.  He 
has  not  excepted  anybody  from  the  operation  of  these  Divine  lawe. 
Divorce  and  polygamy  must  be  excluded  from  Christians,  or  else  the  anger 
of  God  will  necessarily  be  provoked  by  the  violatioa  of  His  laws. 
Slavery,  to  become  a  permanent  institution  of  the  South,  must  be  made 
to  coiiform  to  the  laws  of  God  ;  a  Southern  Confederacy  will  never 
thrive,  unless  it  rests  upon  morality  and  order  ;  the  Supreme  Arbiter 
of  Nations  will  not  bless  with  stability  and  prosperity  a  state  of  things 
which  would  be  a  flagrant  violation  of  His  holy  commandments.  Hence 
marriage  must  be  established  and  enforced  among  slaves,  and  all  the  laws 
of  Christian  marriage  must  be  held  up  to  their  faithful  observance,  as 
they  are  among  the  whites  in  every  decent  form  of  society  ;  and  the  law 
of  the  Apostle  must  apply  to  servants  :  "  Marriage  honorable  in  all,  and 
the  bed  undefiled.  "— Heb.  xiii.  4. 

Another  condition  arises  from  the  nature  of  connubial  society — it  is 
that    the  husband  and  wife  are  joined  together  until  death  parts  them. 
Our  Saviour's  word  on  this  cannot  pass  away  :  **  What  God  has  joined 
togetlaer;  let  no  man  put  asunder."    H^nce  families  ought  never  to  be 
separated,  when  once  established.     It  is  unreasonable,   unchristian,  and 
immoral  to  separate  a  husband  from  his  wife  and  children,  and  to  sell  the 
husband  North,  and  the  wife  South,  and  the  children  East  and  West. 
A  master  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to   do  this  merely    for  the  sake  of 
greater  profit.     Covetousness  and  cupidity  would.not  render  that  conduct 
excusable,  but  would  only  heighten  its  black  hue.    Legitimate  gain  from 
slaves  cannot  be  censured  ;  but  gain  at  the  expense  of  morality,  religion, . 
and  humanity ,•  is  a  horror  which  can  but  bring  to  a  speedy  ruin  a  fabric 
that  would  rest  on  it  and  admit  of   it.      The  separation  of  families  is 
fraught  with   evils  and"  inconveniences  which  shock  the  moral  sense  of 
everybody  at  once  ;  biit  in  the  eyes  of  Religion  it  presents  yet  a  greater 
inconvenience.    This  married  man,  this  married  woman;  now  separated- 
from  each  othei*,  cannot   live  in  continency  ;    if  would  be  requiring .  a 
mirtrcle  of  fortitude  and  virtue,  which  cannot  be  expected  from  the  gener- 
ality of  men,  much  less  from  a  race  more  inclined  to  pleasures  than  any 
other.     Indeed,  the  streti^th  and  violence  of  ammal  propensities  is  in  the  • 
inveri3e  ratio  of  intelleotual -and   moral  faciTl ties,  which  are  decidedly 
weaker   in   the   African  race,   as  all  persons  of  experience  will  testify.  .^ 
Hence  these  people  will  be  necessarily  exposed  to  adultery,  for  the  la^§ 
of  God  cannot  be  set  aside  or  ignored  ;  the  former  marriage  still  subsists,  ' 
and  hence  the  separated  parties  will  live  in  adultery  and  crime,   and  be . 
in-the  impossibility  of  serving  God  and  of  working  out  their'  salvation.  ' 
What  a  dreadful  respon>ibiIity  for  any  master  who  has  not  yet  extinguish-' 
edaltogether  in  him.^elf  the  iear  of  his  Supreme  Judge!  There  ought  to  be, 
ther.efoi*e,  a  provision  made  and  sanctioned  by  the  civil  law,  to  be  a  bar 
against  cupidity,  that   families   shall  never  be  separated,  and  specially 
that  husband  and  wife  will  be  looked  upon  '  as  oiie   person,   inseparable 


20 

3ind  iadiy'isible. ,  '  The  only  exception  to  tliia  law  would  be  the  commission 
of  ^reat  crimes  by  one  of  the  parties,  wliich  would  render  them  subject 
to  legal  punishments,  as  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  for  in  such 
cases  even  among   the  whites  the  husband  is  separated  from  his  wife. 

Among  the  conditions  necessary  to  render  Slavery  lawful  and  reasonable, 
it  is  scarcely  necessary. to  inention  that  the  master  must  really ,  and  in 
g'pd.d  faith  provide  food,  clothing,  and  dwelling  for  his  servant.  This  is 
a  dutv  of  the  master  which  requires  no  proof,  and  is  admitted  by  all,  and 
practised  by  all  generally  speaking  ^  and  it  is  indeed  a  striking  feature 
of  the  South,  that  the  slave  is  better  fed  and  clothed  than  the  free  negro. 
There  is,  ^ye  know,  much  misrepresentation  and  calumny  resorted, .  to  on 
this  point  by  Abolitionists  ;  their  appalling  stories  about  the  hardships 
of  slaves  are  no  more  than  a  malicious  fiction,  if  there  have  been  cruel^ 
tyrannical,  tiger  hearted  masters,  it  is  only  a  proof  that  there  may  be 
mobsters  in  the  human  raoc— but  such  monsters  are  found  as  well  in  free 
as.  in  slave  regions.  As  for  the  generality  of  masters  in  the  South,  they 
are  humane  and  kind,  and  more  inclined  to  be  too  mild  than  too  severe 
to  their  servants.  This  kind  treatment  is  the  necessary  effect  of  religious 
feeling  and  practical  religion  among  masters,  and  hence  it  ought  to  be 
the. great  study  of  ministers  of  religion  to  spread  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
among  th.e  people  ;  it  will  do  incomparably  more  for  the  relief  and  the 
happiness  of  the  slave  than  all  the  fanatical  efforts  of  Abolitionists.  This 
spirit  of  Christianity  will  teach  the  paster  to  treat  his  slave  with  human- 
ity and  kindness,  as  a  fellow-being,  and  as  a  partaker  of  the  same  nature, 
the  .same  promises,  the  same  hope  of  eternal  happiness,  which  exalt  s« 
much  the  human  race  when  received  in  the  light  of  faith  and  Christian 
revelation,  and  hence  I  can  do  nothing  better  than  to  write  down  here 
the  teaching  and  recommendation  of  the  inspired  Apostles  concerning  the 
relative  duties  of  masters  and  servants  :"  Servants,  obey  in  all  things 
yoiir  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  not  serving  to  the  eye,  as  pleasing 
men,  but  in  simplicity  of  heart,  fearing  God.  Whatsoever  you  do,  do 
it  from  the  heart,  as  to  the  Lord  and  not  to  men,  knowing  that  you  shall 
receive  of  the  Lord  the  reward  of  inheritance.  Serve  ye  the  Lord 
Christ.  For  he  that  doeth  an  injury  shall  receive  for  that  which  he 
bath  done  cnjustly,  as  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God.  Masters, 
do  to  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  knowing  tliat  you  also 
bare  a  Master  in  heaven.  " — Colo's,  in  22.  '•  Servants,  obey  your  carnal 
masters  with  fear  and  trembling,  in  the  simplicity  of  your  heart,  a« 
Christ,  not  aerving  to  the  eye  as  it  were  pleasing  men,  but  as  servants 
of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God,  from  the  heart,  with  a  good  will  doing 
service,  as  to  the  Lord  and  not  to  men,  knowing  that  what^ever  good 
every  one  shall  do,  the  same  shall  he  receive  frora  the  Lord,  whether  he 
be  bond  or  free.  And  you,  masters,  do  the  samo  things  to  tbeni,  f6rbear- 
ing  threattnings  :  knowing  that  the  Lord  both  of  them  and  you  is  in 
Heaven,  and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  him."— Bph.  n.  G, 
**  B!«hort -servants  to  bov obedient  to  their  ipaaters,  in  all  things  pleotaing, 


not  coDtradicting,  not  defrauding,  but  in  all  ;hing8  showing  good  fidelity, 
that  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things.  '' — 
Tit.  II.  9.  What  a  useful  and  extensive  subject  of  meditsition  for  ser- 
rants  and  masters.  If  both  come  up  to  the  requirements  and  exhorta- 
tions of  Christian  morality  laid  down  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  then 
servants  will  truly  be  happy,  and  will  love  and  serve  their  masters  from 
their  hearts,  and  masters  will  also  find  iik  their  servants  protectors,  de- 
voted friends,  loving  subjects,  who  will  lake  their  interests  to  heart,  and 
be  more  like  children  than  slaves.  Such,  indeed,  were  the  servants  of 
Abram,  whose  virtue,  faith,  and  religion,  are  a  theme  of  prai«e  in  the 
Sacred  Scripture,  who  numbered  three  hundred  and  eighteen  born  in 
his  house,  who  exposed  their  lives  for  the  interests  of  their  master,  and 
obtained  for  him  a  glorious  victory.  These  are  the  dispositions  which 
true  religion  would  instill  in  the  breasts  of  servants,  and  which  we 
would  witness  generally  among  servant«i,  if  religion  presided  over  our 
families  and  plantations'  In  the  absence  of  this  element  of  order  and 
peace,  alas  I  masters  have  often. no  greater  fear  than  from  their  servants, 
and  wliat  blessing  tiien  would  it  not  be  for  masters  themselves,  if  their 
servants  would  imbibe  the  true  and  genuine  spirit  of  Christianity  ? 

This  leads  me  to  the  last  condition  which  I  wish  to  mention  for  the 
lawfulness  of  Slavery.  It  is,  that  servants  must  be  provided  with  the 
means  of  knowing  and  practising  religion.  This  is  a  sacred,  indispensable, 
bounden  duty  of  masters,  the  neglect  of  which  alone,  if  they  had  commit- 
ted no  other  fault,  would  expose  them  to  eternal  damnation.  Servants 
are  moral,  responsible  and  rational  beings,  accountable  to  the  Supreme 
Arbiter  of  all  things,  as  the  masters  themselves.  They  must  save  their 
own  souls,  and  have,  as  well  as  their  masters,  no  other  affair  worthy  of 
the  name  in  this  world.  They  have  an  immortal  soul,  made  to  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God,  and  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  loss  of 
such. a  soul  is  a  greater  misfortune  than  the  destruction  of  the  whole 
world.  Man  is  on  earth,  only  to  save  that  soul  by  the  love  and  service 
of  God,  and  the  slave  has  the  same  rights  and  duties  as  the  white  mtn  : 
''  There  is  neither  Jew.  nor  Greek,  there  is'  neither  bond  nor  free  ;  there 
is  neither  male,  nor  female  ;  for  you  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesns.  " 
Gal.  III.  28.  It  is,,  therefore,  evident  that  the  slave  must  be  made 
acquainted  with  everything  necessary  that  he  may  save  his  soul.  The 
maste;*  who  has  the  time,  and  the  services  of  his  slave,  is  bound  by  natnral 
law,  as  also  by  the  divine  and  ecclesiastical  law,  to  instruct  his  servants 
in  their  religious  duties,  or  to  have  them  instructed  by  proper  persons. 
He  has,  with  regard  to  that,  the  same  obligations  which  parents  contf^ct 
with  regard  to" their  cliildren.  Hence  it  would  be  a  great  crime,  anB  a 
great  folly  at  the  same  time,  in  masters  to  keep  their  servants  in  ignorance 
of  every  religious  doctrine ;  those  lost  souls  would  cry  out  to  heaven 
against  them  for  vengeance,  and  this  flagrant  injustice  against  the  souls 
of  slaves^  would  be  the  sure  way  to  render  Slavery  an  untenable  and 
ruioous  ijjstitution,  deserving  the  contempt  of  men,  and  the   maledictJoa 


22 

of  God.  It  would 'be  treating  slaves  like  bea^t?,  and 'as  tliis  13  supremely 
unnatural,  suoli  a  state  ol^  things^  would'  be  a  forced  and'Tiolent  one,  and 
could  not  stand,  and  G-od  would  owe  it  toliis  merc_T,  wisdom  and' J4iStice, 
to.  bring  about  the  speedy  ruin  of  such  an  unjust  and  iniquitous  in^itutlon. 
On  the  contrarj,^  if  tlie  slave  be  taught  ■  his  religion,  lire  nature  and 
destination  of  hissoiil,;kis  duties  to  God.  and  the  rewards  as  wefl  as  the 
chastisements  of  the  next  life,  ho  will  then  act  reasonably:  many ''will 
follow  .the  admonitions  of  the  apostles,  and  thus  the  mutuaPtiappitiessand 
satisfaction  of  .^erv^antsa^d  masters  '  will  be  surely  and-  efficaciously 
promoted.  A  Christian  and  religious  master  may  easily  become  a'  most 
effectua,!  missionary,  enforcing  among  his  servants,  by  his  words '-and 
exan^ples,  the -love  of  morality  and  virtue,  gaining  them  to  God,  and"  by 
his  kindness  winning  their  aifection  and  love,  ■  He  will  thus  be  served 
£ar,bettev  in  this  world,  -and  will  be-  the  instrument  of  the_  eternal 
happiness  of  maoy  in  the  next  world,  which  is  indeed  the  highest  aim  of 
human  ambLtion.  Happy  are  the  nrasters  who  own  those  skves,-and 
happier  the  servants  who  belong  to. them.  The  number  of  such-  masters 
is  not  very  large  ;.but  we, have  known  some  who  had  truly  upon  this,  the 
Christian,  Spirit,  and  did  not  ■hesitate,  to  sacrifice  one -afternoon  every 
week,  calling  in  a-  Clergyman  to  give  then-  servants  01. ce  a  week,  a 
homely  and  familiar  instruction  adapted  to  their  wants,  besides  the 
Sunday  which  they  had  free  for  the  performance  of- their  religious  dnties. 
The  subject  which  I  have  presented  to  day  to  your  consideration, 
beloved  brethren,  isone  of  great  importance,  and  is  to  have  a  powei-ful 
influence  over  the  stability  of  the  Southern-  Confederacy.  Such  a 
Confederacy  will,  to  all  appearance,  be  formed,  and  such  is  the  rapid 
march-  of  events,  that  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union  is  already 
consummated,  and  the  faint  hopes  of  a  permanency  of  the .  Union,  which 
existed  yet  when  the  first  pages  of  this  paper  were  written,  have  altogether 
vanished,  and  the  new  flag  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  is  now  given  to 
the  breeze,  and  waveS;  under  my  eyes.  Now  if  that  Confederacy  i*  meant 
to  be  solid,  durable,  stable  and  permanent,  it  must  rest  upon  justice  and 
morality.  "  Justice  exalteth  a  Nation  :  but  sin  maketh  Nations 
miserable.  '[  .  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  fhe  law  of  God  does  not 
reprove  Slavery  ;  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  now  the  sudden  and  abrupt 
manurnission  of  slaves  would  be  a  misfortune  of  appalling  magnitude, 
more  so  yet  for  the  slave  than  for  the  master.  Let  then  the  wise  and 
the  virtuous  unite  and  combine  their  prugence,  their  patriotism,  their 
humanity,  and  their  religious  integrity  to  divest  Slavery  of  the  features 
which  would  make  it  odious  to  God  and  man.  -^  Now  is  the  time  to  make 
a  salutary  reform,  and  to  enact  judicious  regulations;  I  propose  as  the 
means  of  setting  the  new  Confederacy  upon  a  solid  basis,  that  a  servile 
code  be  drawn  up  and  adopted  by  the  Confederacy,  defining  clea3y^the 
rights  and  duties  of  masters,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  slaves.  This 
will  be  the  means  of  proving  to  the  world  that  the  South  is  on  the  side 
of  justice,  morality,  reason  and  religion.     This  will  be  a  just  vindication 


id 


J^-^c^l 


of  Southern  viewe  wmctioned  by  the  Gr^t  Arbiter  of  Nations  •  thie  will 
be  a  most  triumphant  confutotion  of  the  charges  which  bigotry,  Wnorance, 
fanaUcitm  and  malice,  cloaked  under  a  reverend  ^arb,  have  for  vears 
heaped  against  Southern  Inetitotions. 

W«  have  assembled  to  bumble  ourselves  under  the  remembrance  of 
our  manifold  transgressions  :  the  subject  which  has  been  presented  to 
jou  on  this  occasion  afford*  to  the  North  and  to  the  South  just  subjects 
of  humiliation,  sorrow,  confusion  and  humble  accusation  before  the 
^}^P^°?,^  ^^^^'  Let  ns,  beloved  brethren,  accompany  these  sentimente 
of  humiliation  and  grief  with  great  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God  who 
olten  permits  transitory  sufferings  in  order  to  derive  from 'them 
eubstan^al  and  lasting  good.  Let  us  remember  how  the  Jews,  under 
iiSther  having  recourse  to  penance  and  prayer  were  saved  miraculously 
from  their  enemies,  who  themselves  fell  into  the  pit  they  had  du?  for 
their  unofiFending  brethren.  Let  us  remember  how  the  threats  against 
^meve  were  averted  by  the  humiliation  and  penance  of  the  people""  and 
Jet  us  hope,  in  the  midst  of  the  sed  forebodings  which  reach  us  every 
day,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  rumors  and  cries  of  civil  war  which  seem  to 
become  every  day  nearer  and  nearer,  that  Divine  Providence,  who  has 
m  his  hands  the  heart  of  kings,  rulers,  and  statesmen,  will  avert  calam- 
ities fix>m  our  heads,  or  at  least  grant  us  the  grace  of  so  profiting  by  the 
temporal  evils  to  which  we  may  be  subjected,  that  bv  patience,  resignation, 
suDmission  to  the  will  of  heaven,  we  may  expiate  our  past  faults,  cancel 
at  least  a  part  of  the  debt  which  we  owe  to  the  Divine  Justice  and  rende- 
ourselves  worthy  of  the  eternal  happine=;ss  which  is  promised  to  the  true 
berracts  of  God  in  the  next  world. 


Hollinger  Corp, 
pH8.5 


